Deep Sea Embers

When the door opened, there were two familiar yet surprising figures standing at the door. One of them was Helena, who was wearing a navy blue dress. The other was extraordinarily tall, with skin that looked like a rock. Frame with the same texture.

Two unmarked steam cars were parked at an intersection not far away, their lights piercing the night. Several church guards stood quietly beside the cars, like silent sculptures in the night.

Lucretia looked at the uninvited guests in front of her and frowned slightly: "Why do you all like 'visiting' so much now?"

"Sorry to interrupt, but there is something very important," Helena didn't pay attention to the obvious look of disgust on Lucrecia's face, and walked into the room in a familiar manner as she spoke, "Let's go in first - I This visit with Frame is secret, I don’t want too many people to notice..."

Before Lucretia could react, the female pope, who represented the highest authority of the Deep Sea Church, had nimbly slipped through the door. Frame smiled awkwardly and walked in while talking to the mansion's people. The hostess apologized: "I'm sorry, Helena has always been very active - and something unusual did happen. The 'captain' should be interested in it..."

Lucretia couldn't stop her, so she could only turn around and stare at the two "big men" who forced their way in with wide eyes: "Hey, all of you...this is my home!"

However, Miss Witch, who does not like to socialize, was not able to stop the execution of the two popes at all - she could not fight, but it was difficult to stop them. By the time she reacted, the two uninvited guests had successfully invaded her house...

Duncan, who was staying in the living room, had already heard the noise coming from the door. He looked up and saw Helena and Frame walking in. The former had visited here with Rune not long ago, but the latter was This was the first time he saw it in the city-state, which made him a little curious: "Does your pope usually run around? Are you so idle at this time?"

Helena heard the ridicule in Duncan's words, but she didn't care at all. She just sat on the sofa opposite and said seriously: "We have brought news from the gods - from the eternal curtain. information outside."

When Helena finished speaking, Duncan had put away the teasing expression on his face. The clues were reorganized in his mind instantly. He instantly thought of the intelligence that had just been sent from Lawrence - even the person walking next to him had an impatient expression. Lucretia who came over also stopped immediately, with a thoughtful look on her face.

Helena immediately noticed the subtle changes in the atmosphere in the living room. She frowned, but before she spoke, Fanna, who was standing next to the sofa, had already broken the silence softly: "Song of the Sea?"

Helena subconsciously adjusted her sitting position: "You guys..."

"If you don't come to visit today, it's time for me to visit you," Duncan said slowly, "I also just got some news about the 'Sea Song'. It seems that this is not a coincidence... but I want to first Listen to the information you brought. What happened to that ship?"

Helena and Frame looked at each other, and the latter nodded slightly, turned to Duncan, and said solemnly: "The Sea Song returned in December 1675."

The living room was a little quiet for a moment, until Shirley finally couldn't help but break the silence by exclaiming: "What the hell? More than three hundred and twenty years ago?!"

The living room became quieter instantly. Alice calculated there for a long time before carefully poking Shirley's arm: "It seems to have been more than two hundred and twenty years ago..."

Shirley was stunned for a moment before she regained her composure: "What the hell? More than two hundred and twenty years ago?!"

The two popes probably have never met a communication partner like Shirley: "..."

"Don't worry, she's not very good at math." Fortunately, Duncan had already gotten used to it, and immediately waved his hand to attract Helena and Frame's attention again, "Let's get down to business, did the Sea Song really return in 1675? How did you discover or confirm this?"

"...History has been dug through. In the normal trajectory of history, there is a hole," Frame said in a low voice, "I sensed this hole, and then the holes left by the previous fire bearer popes Corresponding clues were found in the tablet of notes..."

He paused, as if he was organizing his words, and then continued: "In December 1675, a strange and broken ship like a phantom appeared on the eastern border, and disintegrated and disappeared into the sea after a short time. People were in it. The only thing that could be determined before disappearing was the name 'Sea Song' on the side of the ship.

"This incident was recorded in the archives of the Firebringer Sanctuary, but apart from the words on the record tablet, there are no records related to it in any files or files of the corresponding year. It is like a gap in history. The shadow that suddenly fell into the real dimension, only the pope who brought the fire back then saw and remembered this illusion... In other words, only the records left by that pope left a 'trace' in history."

"...Why did this happen?" Morris couldn't help but said, "Is this some kind of historical pollution? Or is it tampering..."

"It is the incompleteness of time that caused the historical penetration event to occur," Frame slowly shook his head. "The Sea Song must have deviated from the normal timeline for some unexpected reason, and then moved on in an untimely manner. The state caused a 'drift', and finally returned to this world at the time point of '1675'..."

He stopped and thought for a moment, then continued to explain: "It's like there are countless dust stuck in a rolling tire. One of the dust suddenly breaks away from the inner wall of the tire and floats randomly. Then when it is adsorbed by the inner wall again, , it may appear anywhere on the tire.”

Detached from the normal timeline... drifting away in a non-sequential state...

Listening to Frame's explanation, Duncan frowned little by little, his expression thoughtful.

Lucretia and Maurice also seemed to have thought of something, and there was a hint of realization in their expressions.

Only Alice and Shirley, after hearing such a theory beyond common sense, still had clear eyes, and they seemed not to be tainted by knowledge at all...

"So that's it," Lucretia suddenly spoke softly, and she nodded slightly to Duncan, "This way the experience of the 'sailor' can be explained."

"Sailor?" Helena looked confused, "The 'sailor' you are talking about is..."

"The 'First Mate' of the Sea Song, he still exists in this world, although... a lot has changed."

Duncan opened his mouth and said that he did not hide the information he got from Lawrence. In the next ten minutes, he told everything he knew about the situation.

Helena and Frame looked at each other.

After a moment of hesitation, Helena suddenly spoke: "I need to see that 'sailor'."

"He is now in the small city-state 'Phaelun' near the southwest border, with another group of my followers," Duncan nodded, "I can 'bring' him here at any time - but I have to first Ask the parties concerned for their opinions.”

Helena didn't seem to react for a moment: "Ask for... opinions?"

"He has experienced many things that are unimaginable to ordinary people, and perhaps it was the Sea Song's voyage outside the border that completed the 'closed loop of history,' and all the memories revived in his mind almost instantly," Duncan said seriously Said, "He may no longer be the 'Sea Song' first mate' you know, and he may not want to deal with people from the Deep Sea Church anymore..."

"Well, I'm not surprised by this, I can imagine the current state of that 'sailor'," Helena looked at Duncan with a strange expression, "I'm just surprised that you respect your followers so much in this kind of thing. wishes and take care of their feelings..."

The corner of Duncan's mouth suddenly trembled: "...What image do I have in your minds?"

Helena's face froze, and she quickly made amends: "Reliable captain, respectable explorer, although there are many misunderstandings, we think you..."

"There are countless shadows from subspace lurking around me at any time, and the pot is also stewed with children and stray dogs from all over the world..." Frame said casually beside him.

Helena: "..."

"This is not what I said," Frame looked at Helena with an indifferent expression, "This is what you two said when you were chatting with Banster before."

"...That's just an exaggerated rhetorical technique! And that was already last year!" Helena almost jumped up, "Why do you remember this!"

Frame didn't even change his expression. He just turned his head and looked at Duncan slowly, his face still as calm and indifferent as if carved from stone: "They really said that."

Duncan was silent for a few seconds, then turned to look beside him.

Lucretia stood beside him with a straight face.

The witch girl's face turned red - not speaking out happily was her last courtesy to her father.

Duncan sighed: "...I'll contact Lawrence."

…

"This is the situation," Lawrence sat on the chair opposite Anomaly 077 and said with a serious face, "Now Captain Duncan wants to see you, and His Majesty the Pope of the Deep Sea Church is also waiting. If you are willing, you can set off immediately ——The captain allows me to use his fire to summon a messenger, and Ai can send you to Breeze Port instantly."

Anomaly 077 had already experienced the initial memory shock and confusion at this time. He gradually calmed down and returned to some of his usual state.

Now he was worried.

"I... don't know what to do," he sighed, not hiding his wavering at the moment in front of Lawrence. "I remembered a lot of things, but the things before the Sea Song set sail were very vague. I knew that I was The first mate of the Sea Song, but this identity is like a stranger in the mirror to me... and more importantly, I also lost the log..."

"If you care about the log left by Captain Kalani..." Lawrence hesitated and said slowly, "Maybe you didn't lose it."

The sailor was startled and suddenly raised his head: "Huh?"

"You said that you remembered that you kept Captain Kalani's log with you before she disappeared and kept it close to you - in fact, it was really with you all the time." Lawrence looked into the sailor's eyes seriously, Speak slowly one word at a time, "Do you still remember what has been with you?"

The sailor was stunned, as if he was gradually coming to his senses.

"We found some very vague traces on your shroud," Lawrence said.